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Luis

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Hi everybody.

I've read scientists use urchins for research about human reproduction because is very easy to get the urchin eggs and sperm, do you know how they get it! I think they have to pour something into the water to make the urchin to spawn , does somebody knows?

See ya

English is not my mother tongue... so I have an excuse jeje
 

Ben1

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I believe with clams they take the gonads of a clam and blend this up, add it to the water and this will cause the clams they want to spawn to spawn. Ive also heard of them taking one out of the water and letting it sit dry for a short bit then putting it back in the tank and the stress causes it to spawn, and IIRC they are broadcast spawners so the rest of the clams will all start spawning.

Anyhow I know you wanted info on urchins, maybe similair techniques would work?

I am not suggesting to stress the urchin.

Why do you ask?
 
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Anonymous

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I think it is one of the sodium salt that they add to force it to spawn. Maybe Matt knows? Send him a PM if he does not reply to you.
 
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Anonymous

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dupaboy1992":28n7kypy said:
I think it is one of the sodium salt that they add to force it to spawn. Maybe Matt knows? Send him a PM if he does not reply to you.

that and just about anything that stresses them. Like wise you could kill one, that usually sets off the others.

Large water changes that swing parameters does a great job as well.
 

Luis

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Thank you guys.

I got my urchins years ago to fight my hair and green algae infestation and they worked great! now I was thinking to start a urchin farm to offer urchins, I have reproduce some invertebrates before and I think breeding urchins could be easy but I need to know how to force them to spawn, I've heard about the blender 'technique' but I could not do that one :( I need another way to force them... How I send a pm to Matt, I mean; what's his name here en reefs.com?

I love this site because, I always got answers...I pasted this question before in other sites and nobody knows anything about it even though they have more members.

Thanks again.
 
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Anonymous

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Matt as in Matt Wandell (screen and real name). He's an admin around these here parts so finding him won't be all that hard.

Likewise try www.marinebreeders.org

That site is about the end all be all of MO breeding :)
 
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Anonymous

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Oh jeez, why did I not notice this earlier? Yes, SllipperMan has it right. You just inject the test of the urchin with a solution of KCl (potassium chloride). I could have sworn it was a 5M solution, not 0.5M, but it's been years. I suppose it would be worth a try to do it with NaCl and see what happens.

Anyhow, all you have to do is inject one and place it back in the water and it will begin spawning within a few seconds. Shortly thereafter all the other urchins in the system will follow suit. If you keep the spawn in a small closed container and keep it aerated with an airstone or paddle wheel for a day or two you will be able to see urchin larvae under a scope. Coral food!
 
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Anonymous

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http://celldynamics.org/celldynamics/do ... inlab.html

How to get gametes from urchins

The most common method is to inject potassium chloride (KCl) into the body cavity. The injected solution is 0.55 M KCl in distilled water. You need 1-2 ml per urchin, less than 1 ml per sand dollar. There is no need to sterilize it.

KCl stimulates the gonad wall to contract; ripe gametes emerge from the gonopores surrounding the anus on the aboral (up) side of the animal. Use a syringe and 18 gauge or smaller needle (22 gauge is ideal for both urchins and sand dollars). Insert the needle, angled radially away from the mouth, into the edge of the disc of soft tissue surrounding the mouth. Don't force it. Go straight in about 1 cm or so and inject slowly, no more than 2 ml (1 ml is usually sufficient), making sure not to inject any bubbles. Sand dollars initially seem trickier because there is so little space in the body and it's hard to find the soft spot around the mouth, but with a little practice they are just as easy. Insert the needle near the mouth, then tip it to a steep angle, and insert further until you feel the firm test on the opposite side. You should inject less: 0.5 ml is usually adequate for a medium-sized sand dollar.

Injected animals may not begin shedding immediately. Give them a bit of a shake, and then set them down dry (sprinkle them with seawater occasionally) until you see something coming out of the gonopores. Be patient; some animals take up to 10 min. to spawn, and some just aren't ripe. Often not all the gonopores emit gametes. If it's milky-white, it's sperm. Either use a glass pipette to transfer dry semen from the top of the spawning male to a test tube (sand dollars usually don't make enough semen to allow this), or invert him over a shallow dish with just enough water to cover the gonopores. If it's yellow, it's eggs. Invert the spawning female over a small beaker (that is, smaller than the urchin!) filled to the brim with chilled seawater. She will release eggs in streams and clumps which accumulate on the bottom. When the animals are done spawning, or when they've provided enough gametes, return them to a tank — BUT: not to the tank with all your other animals, because they may be induced to spawn by the presence of gametes in the water.
 

Luis

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Thanks!!! now it's clear... I have browsing and I found that KCL is used in letal injections so I guess I have to be careful when I'm injecting the urchins! 8O .

My urchins are black and short spine urchins, they eat any kind of algae even coraline algae! and they love to move small pieces of rock and small corals so I had to attach all my corals with epoxy putty.

Thanks again.
 

SlipperMan

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Luis said:
Thanks!!! now it's clear... I have browsing and I found that KCL is used in letal injections so I guess I have to be careful when I'm injecting the urchins! 8O .

I'm betting the KCl used in lethal injections is slightly stronger than what you would be dealing with in urchins.

But nonetheless, always be careful with needles. :wink:
 

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